The production plants of the Finnish company Metsä Group generate around 12 million tonnes of wood-based carbon dioxide every year, and the company is paying ever greater attention to promoting carbon dioxide capture on a large scale.

“Wood-based carbon dioxide is a significant but as yet unused by-product stream that could be used more effectively as technologies and markets develop,” stresses Kaija Pehu-Lehtonen, who has been appointed the new director of Metsä Group's carbon capture project. If carbon capture proves viable, it will provide the forest sector with a new large-volume wood raw material that can be used to replace fossil-based materials.

“Our aim is to use Nordic wood efficiently and to increase still further the applications of our production side streams, in order to turn wood into ever more valuable products,” says Sari Pajari-Sederholm, Head of Strategy at Metsä Group.

The first study, which will establish what large-scale carbon capture from the flue gases of a bioproduct mill would mean for Metsä Group in technological and energy terms, will be completed this autumn.

Next year Metsä Group, together with the technology company ANDRITZ, will carry out pioneering work by trialling carbon capture at the Rauma pulp mill.

If carbon capture is implemented, it will open up opportunities for a significant new chemical industry in Finland and will boost the Finnish hydrogen economy.

“For example, renewable hydrogen and wood-based carbon dioxide could be used to produce synthetic methane or methanol for further processing,” says S. Pajari-Sederholm.

About the company: Metsä Group has its origins in the forests of Finland: our parent company Metsäliitto Cooperative is owned by more than 90,000 forest owners. Using wood, the company makes recyclable products that millions of people around the world need every day. The main focus is on wood supply and forestry services, wood products, and the manufacture of pulp, paperboard, tissue and other papers. Following the principles of regenerative forestry, Metsä Group is committed to strengthening the state of nature in forests in a measurable way. The company fosters a culture of diversity, equality and inclusion. Metsä Group's turnover in 2023 reached EUR 6.1 billion, and it employs around 9,500 people.